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COVID-19 May Delay Vogtle Nuclear Expansion

April 2, 2020

The post COVID-19 May Delay Vogtle Nuclear Expansion appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Southern Co. in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 1 said the COVID-19 pandemic “could disrupt or delay construction, testing, supervisory and support activities” at the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project in Georgia.

The company in the filing said, “It is too early to determine what impact, if any, the COVID-19 outbreak will have on the current construction schedule or budget” for the two new nuclear reactors at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. Southern said state and federal government actions designed to slow the spread of the virus, such as stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders, could bring disruptions to both the labor pool and supply chains.

The company said effects of the coronavirus pandemic “could disrupt or delay construction, testing, supervisory and support activities at Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4.”

John Kraft, a spokesperson for Georgia Power, the lead utility on the project, told POWER on Wednesday that “Construction work continues at the site under continuing enhanced protocols designed to reduce worker-to-worker contact and keep areas that workers frequent, cleaned and sanitized. …

Georgia Power Orders First Fuel Load for Vogtle Unit 4

March 6, 2020

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The post Georgia Power Orders First Fuel Load for Vogtle Unit 4 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Georgia Power on March 5 announced it has ordered the first nuclear fuel load for Vogtle Unit 4, as work continues on the first new-design reactors in the U.S. in more than 30 years. Fuel for Unit 3 of the two-unit expansion at Vogtle was ordered last summer.

The completion of the fuel order for Unit 4 is another milestone for the project at the Plant Vogtle site near Waynesboro, Georgia. The project is now approximately 84% complete, according to Georgia Power. The two AP1000 (Advanced Passive) units each have generation capacity of 1,117 MW.

Southern Co., the parent of Georgia Power, in an email to POWER on Thursday said the order consists of 157 fuel assemblies, each 14 feet tall. According to Georgia Power, “The fuel will eventually be loaded into the reactor vessels to support startup once the reactors begin operating.…

State Regulators Warn of More Delays at Vogtle

November 26, 2019

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The post State Regulators Warn of More Delays at Vogtle appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A filing by Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) staff and consultants on Nov. 22 said Georgia Power’s expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant is falling further behind schedule. The filing Friday came the same day that the utility announced the sixth and last containment ring for the two-unit expansion was set in place.

The PSC filing said the current deadlines for commercial operation of two new reactors are “significantly challenged” amid construction delays. The filing also noted safety risks for workers at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. Georgia Power has said more than 8,000 workers are currently at the job site.

The Vogtle project is several years behind its original schedule—completion had been expected as early as 2016 when the project was first announced more than a decade ago—and billions of dollars over budget. Officials with Georgia Power and its parent Southern Co. have in the past year pointed to November 2021 and November 2022 as expected dates for the new reactors to enter commercial operation.…

Vogtle Loan Guarantees Praised, Criticized

March 24, 2019

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Energy Secretary Rick Perry on March 22 said his department will guarantee up to $ 3.7 billion in additional loans to finance continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia. While Perry and other government officials stressed the importance of the project to the U.S. nuclear industry, critics called it a case of “throwing good money after bad.”

“The Vogtle project is critically important to supporting the [Trump] administration’s direction to revitalize and expand the U.S. nuclear industry,” said Perry on Friday in a ceremony at the Vogtle site near Waynesboro, Georgia. “A strong nuclear industry supports a reliable and resilient grid, and strengthens our energy and national security. As I’ve witnessed firsthand today, Vogtle is also an energy infrastructure project with a massive scope employing thousands of workers. This project is rebuilding a highly skilled U.S. nuclear workforce and supply chain for the future.”

Perry called the project “the real New Green Deal,” a mocking reference to a Democratic legislative effort on Capitol Hill designed to combat climate change.…

Plagued by Grim Challenges, Vogtle Nuclear Expansion Lags Behind Schedule, Says Oversight Consultant

December 6, 2018

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The two-unit Vogtle expansion in Georgia faces major challenges that are poised to derail its schedule and ramp up costs—and the project is already behind schedule, a consulting firm tasked with construction oversight of the project told regulators.

In revealing testimony filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) public interest advocacy staff on November 30, Donald Grace, vice president of engineering for Cost Plus Technology—Nuclear Construction Oversight (CPT), noted that the total construction cost—which includes all owner-shared costs but excludes financing costs—to complete the two Vogtle units by the scheduled November 2021/2022 timeframe is $ 17.1 billion. Only about 60% of the project is complete, he said.

Meanwhile, the project faces several potentially debilitating challenges that could cause delays and drive up costs. Foremost among them are labor shortages. While Georgia Power noted about 7,000 workers were onsite as of December 4, according to Grace, “Obtaining sufficient numbers of qualified craft labor pipe fitters and electricians are necessary to support the planned installation rate for bulk piping and electrical commodities.”…

Deadline Extended for Vote on Future of Plant Vogtle

September 26, 2018

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The drama over the fate of the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia continued September 25 as the four co-owners of the project sparred over conditions that one of the co-owners, Oglethorpe Power, wants in order to secure its support for moving forward with the project.

A vote on the future of the oft-delayed, massively over budget project was delayed several times Tuesday before eventually being pushed to 5 p.m. Eastern time September 26. The plant’s co-owners on Monday agreed construction should continue on two new AP1000 reactors at the site in Waynesboro, but Oglethorpe’s support was conditional, with the electric membership cooperative saying it needs an agreement on how costs for continuing construction will be capped before casting a “yes” vote. A “no” vote from Oglethorpe could bring a cancellation of the project.

Steve Tumlin, the mayor of Marietta, Georgia, and the city’s representative on the board of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power), said the deadline for a definitive vote on the project’s future can be extended as much as seven days.…